BioShock — System Requirements, FPS Estimate & Settings
2007 · Shooter, Action · Digital Extremes · ESRB Mature · Metacritic 96
Official system requirements
Publisher-published Minimum / Recommended values via RAWG, retrieved 2026-08-21. Real-world performance varies with drivers, resolution and your full build.
| Spec | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Minimum: Operating System: Windows XP (with Service Pack 2) or Windows Vista | Recommended: CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo processor |
| Processor | CPU: Intel single-core Pentium 4 processor at 2.4GHz | RAM: 2GB |
| Memory | RAM: 1 GB | Video Card: DX 9 - Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 512 MB RAM and Pixel Shader 3.0 (NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT or better), DX 10 - NVIDIA GeForce 8600 or better |
| Graphics | Video Card: Direct X 9.0c compliant video card with 128MB RAM and Pixel Shader 3.0 (NVIDIA 6600 or better/ATI X1300 or better, excluding ATI X1550) | Sound Card: SoundBlaster(r) X-Fi(tm) series (optimized foruse with Creative Labs EAX ADVANCED HD 4.0 or EAX ADVANCED HD 5.0 compatible sound cards) |
| Storage | Sound Card: 100% direct X 9.0c compatible sound card | — |
| DirectX | Hard Drive Space: 8GB | — |
| Item 7 | Game requires Internet connection for activation | — |
Multi-GPU FPS estimate
Estimated average FPS by GPU at 1080p / 1440p / 4K, derived from BioShock's demand tier (tier 6, Demanding (high-end GPU)) and published TechPowerUp-style relative-performance indices (RTX 4090 = 100), retrieved 2026-08-29. Planning estimates, not benchmarks.
| GPU | 1080p | 1440p | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 4090 | 112 | 74 | 43 |
| RTX 4080 Super | 100 | 66 | 38 |
| RTX 4080 | 97 | 64 | 37 |
| RX 7900 XTX | 107 | 71 | 41 |
| RX 7900 XT | 100 | 66 | 38 |
| RTX 4070 Ti Super | 86 | 57 | 33 |
| RX 7800 XT | 86 | 57 | 33 |
| RTX 4070 Super | 81 | 53 | 31 |
| RTX 4070 | 76 | 50 | 29 |
| RX 7700 XT | 78 | 51 | 30 |
| RTX 3070 | 70 | 47 | 27 |
| RX 6800 XT | 85 | 56 | 32 |
| RTX 4060 Ti | 62 | 41 | 24 |
| RX 6700 XT | 76 | 50 | 29 |
| RTX 3060 | 57 | 37 | 22 |
| RX 6600 XT | 64 | 42 | 24 |
| RTX 2060 | 51 | 34 | 20 |
| GTX 1660 Super | 43 | 28 | 16 |
| RX 580 | 49 | 32 | 19 |
| GTX 1060 6GB | 40 | 27 | 15 |
| GTX 1650 | 32 | 21 | 12 |
| Intel Arc A770 | 65 | 43 | 25 |
| UHD 770 (integrated) | 13 | 9 | 8 |
Method: a game's demand tier maps to a “GPU index needed for ~60 FPS at 1080p”; each GPU's relative index produces an estimate via a diminishing-returns curve, then scaled for resolution. Source: TechPowerUp GPU database (relative performance), 2026-08-29.
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Open profile →Optimize BioShock for your hardware
Pick your GPU, CPU, resolution and target refresh rate, then generate a printable settings card with per-preset expectations and upscaler guidance.
Optimize BioShock for your PC
This is a planning estimate derived from the game's demand tier, not a benchmark.
My BioShock Settings Card
Generated at GameFigs on 2026-09-25. Game demand tier: 6/9.
Release & version notes
Official release date: 2007-08-21. Ongoing patches and version history are published by the developer — for the latest patch notes, see the official store or support page. GameFigs summarizes the official release only and does not invent patch dates.
About BioShock
FPS with RPG elements, Bioshock invites players to experience horrors of underwater isolation in the city of Rapture, the failed project of the better future. After surviving the plane crash, the protagonist has only one way to go – to the giant lighthouse that opens a way to the underwater utopia. Players will have to unravel the complicated history of Rapture, relying only on themselves, their guns and Plasmids, a mystical substance, that allows it’s user to obtain near magical abilities. The atmosphere of isolation and threat is conveyed through the environmental sounds, subtle electrical buzzing and audio logs, telling the story of societal decay and despair. Players will shape the story, making moral choices along their way, saving Little Sisters or extracting ADAM, the mystical fuel for your abilities. While exploring the underwater city, players will complete missions for the last sane inhabitants of Rapture, while fending off the less fortunate ones.
Sources & attribution
- Game data (release year, genres, platforms, system requirements, description, cover art) via RAWG.io, retrieved 2026-08-21.
- GPU relative-performance indices via TechPowerUp GPU database (relative performance), retrieved 2026-08-29.
- FPS estimates on this page are GameFigs planning estimates from the demand-tier + GPU-index model — not benchmark results.
How the BioShock optimization card & FPS estimate are computed
Each game is scored on a 0–9 demand tier from its published PC requirements (and a year/genre fallback when requirements are absent). The FPS estimate compares your selected GPU's relative-performance index against the tier's required index using a diminishing-returns curve, then scales for resolution. The settings card maps the demand tier and your hardware to a starting preset, an FPS band and an upscaler recommendation. All outputs are planning guides — verify in-game with the built-in benchmark when available.
Tools for BioShock
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